User Contributed Notes 1 note

If a new namespace is introduced while creating and inserting an attribute, createAttributeNS() does not behave in the same way as createElementNS().

(1) Location: With createAttributeNS(), the new namespace is declared at the level of the document element. By contrast, createElementNS() declares the new namespace at the level of the affected element itself.

(2) Timing: With createAttributeNS(), the new namespace is declared in the document as soon as the attribute is created - the attribute does not actually have to be inserted. createElementNS() doesn't affect the document as long as the element is not inserted.